A New Marauders Era
by marauderfascination
Summary: What if Wormtail never existed? What if Regulus became the fourth marauder? What if the Potters lived? Join James, Remus, and Sirius in their journey through Hogwarts. Pairings: James/Lily; Sirius/anything that wears a skirt; Remus/ maybe Tonks? let's see how far this fic goes. NoSlash- Sorry
1. Chapter 1

A New Marauders Era

A/N: Alright guys I'm so excited for this story. I really, really hope I finish it. It's just writing isn't my forte and I get writer's block pretty easily but I think there is a lot more to work within this fanfiction than either of my other two stories. I think. Anyway, I hope you like it, and if there is anything you don't like, plot-wise, character-wise, I recommend you write your own version and send me a link because I promise you I am doing this how I think it would/should go. And I'm fairly sure I'm one of the first to think of this idea.

However, if you have any ideas you think I would like, or have any grammar and usage corrections I am pretty good with helpful criticism, just don't hate.

Last but not least Enjoy the first chapter of the first year of my lovely little fic.

* * *

Chapter 1

"Mum," Remus whined, "Stop fussing. I'll be fine."

The blond-haired woman smiled back at the scarred lycanthrope. "I know, darling, I know." She glanced over at her husband, a tall handsome man with sandy brown hair, and back at the boy, "Do you have everything?"

"Honestly Hope, we have already been over this three times today, and twice last night. Remus is completely prepared and has enough supplies to last him an entire year. Besides we will see him in three months." Lyall Lupin kissed his wife's head and bent down to eye-level with his son. "I know you'll be fine. We know how brave you are." He "Now, I understand that you might be nervous, but remember- you deserve to be here just as much as anyone else. Write to us tonight about where you got sorted and try to write at least once a week to keep your mother sane." He ruffled the small boy's hair. "Now go get a compartment before everyone else takes them all."

"I will." Remus took a deep breath. he carried his things to the entrance of the train and looked back at his parents and the nearly empty train station. The Lupins were too early for their own good. Remus found an empty compartment, not that it was hard to find, and promptly ran to the window to open it and watch his parents walk away. He waved to them as they retreated into the barrier, where groups of people started to arrive. Remus took another deep breath. Dumbledore had said that all would be well while he was at school so long as he didn't tell many people. But more importantly, everyone would be safe. Maybe he could even make friends. Remus drifted off into a little nap.

* * *

James Fleamont Potter leaped through the barrier onto platform 9 and ¾, nervous parents traveling not far behind him.

"James!" His father called, "Will we ever get that boy to calm down?" Mr. Potter followed as quickly as his legs would carry him, all the while still trying to stay next to his wife.

James stopped at the entrance to the train and turned around to find his parents were a good twenty feet behind him. When they finally reached him, they stopped to catch their breaths. "Dad? What took you so long?" James asked, taking one of his bags from his parents.

"We're not young anymore James. You have to remember that" The older man said dropping the other package he was carrying. "You also have to remember you were too excited to stop and wait for me to get you a trolley. Carrying your trunk as well as your satchel and trying to keep up with you and your owl isn't exactly what I call easy."

"Sorry," James said as he looked down and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, thanks." He set his owl cage down on the ground and jumped into a hug with his father.

"It's alright my boy," He smiled and patted James's back. "Now give your mother a hug before you forget," he said pulling away from the Raven-haired child.

"Bye, mum," James said pulling his mother into a tight hug.

"It won't be long, I'm sure the time will pass quicker than we'd like." Mrs. Potter said more for herself than her son. She discreetly wiped away her oncoming tears.

"Don't tell Dad, but… I'll miss you more," He whispered into her ear.

She smiled, pulling herself out of the hug. "You won't miss me. you'll find a group of friends to keep you busy and you won't have time miss me." She wiped away another tear and grabbed her husband's hand.

"Now get on before your mother starts to bawl her eyes out." Mr. Potter said waving him on.

"I promise to write to you as soon as I get to the Gryffindor common room." James immediately bounded off on to the train to find a seat.

"He does realize that there is a possibility he might get sorted into another house, doesn't he?" Mrs. Potter asked still staring at where James had just been standing.

"Do you honestly believe that he would be sorted anywhere other than Gryffindor?"

"I don't know but I think Hufflepuff might do him some good." They both laughed.

* * *

A young boy with chin-length curly dark brown hair walked solemnly through the barrier. one of the last obstacles left before he was free- to an extent. Once he arrived at the castle, he would no longer have his parents breathing down his neck. He might have a cousin watching his every move, but he could endure that. And with him not at home, his parents would have less of a reason to get upset, therefore keeping his brother safe. Hogwarts would be good.

Sirius nearly tripped over trunk sitting on his path as he was lost in his thoughts.

"Sorry," a girl with deep blue eyes said as she moved her trunk out of the way.

Sirius had already passed the girl before he could reply, besides his parents were right behind him watching to make sure he wouldn't make a fool of himself.

"Sirius let's stop here to say goodbye," A deep aristocratic voice rang out.

"Yes, father." Sirius sighed, slouching slightly before correcting his posture. He looked back towards where his younger brother was following his parents, trying to stay out of the limelight.

"You know what to do. When you get on the train you will go straight away to Narcissa and her friends. I believe they will be introducing you to a few more of your housemates." Walburga said for the seventh time that week.

"I know mother," Sirius biting his tongue to refrain from saying more.

His father bent down to straighten out his clothes. "Remember who you are representing while you are away- One of the most prestigious and noble pureblood houses to ever walk the Hogwarts grounds. Most prestigious families send their children to Durmstrang, don't be afraid to remind them thusly. You are also there to check up on Narcissa for the family to make sure she doesn't fall into the same trap as her distasteful sister."

"Yes, I know father, it's not like this isn't the twentieth time you've told me this month." Sirius flinched.

"Don't you dare talk back to me young man. I deserve more respect that."

"Than why don't you act like it?" Sirius threw all caution into the wind. They wouldn't be able to touch him anymore.

Orion raised a hand in the air and scanned the area before dropping it. It would not do well to call in o question his emotional stability now.

Sirius unclenched his fists, picked up his trunks and headed towards the train, not looking back.

After Sirius had boarded the train, he was about to look for his cousin's compartment. Where would his cousin be? Probably near the back, but why should he listen to his parents? Why should he befriend a gaggle of Slytherins when he causes chaos instead. Imagine Walburga's face when reading Narcissa's first letter home and finding out that Sirius decided to rebel against her wishes. He looked around to find a compartment with a small boy who seemed to be asleep. Sirius looked ahead and back from where he came, finally deciding to go in and sit down.

Sirius sat on the left, opposite of the boy who was originally there. The boy sleeping against the window was about his age. Finally, the train started to go, and Kings Cross Station faded away. He sat back watching the world fly behind him.

Not even ten minutes had passed when a boy quickly ran inside the compartment.

"Do you mind if I hide here for a bit?" he sat down, "Thanks!" said the newcomer faced Sirius and hid under his school robes.

Sirius stared, Was it too late for an introduction?

"James Potter, by the way," the new boy said, discreetly sticking out his hand, "Do you see an angry redhead or a drab looking black haired bloke outside the compartment by any chance?"

Sirius chuckled to himself, "No," he said staring at the hand still held out to him. "I'm Sirius." They shook.

"Nice to meet you. Also, keep an eye out for one of the two I told you about. I might die if they catch me." James said tucking his legs beneath his arms.

"I will," Sirius replied still staring silently at the sight before him. "What did you do to deserve that much wrath?"

James waved him off. "It's a long story."

"Can't be that long. The train only left ten minutes ago."

The messy haired boy sighed, "Well, if you must know, I first sat in this compartment with a pair of Muggle-borns, or so I thought. I was explaining Hogwarts to them, you know how it works and all, and the girl told me off for "Discriminating against houses" or something like that. Don't even really know what that means, so how could I be doing it?"

Sirius's brow furrowed. "What did you say, exactly?"

James scrunched his face in thought, "Well, I was just talking about the different houses and how Gryffindor's the best. 'Cuz you see, Slytherin's full of slimy git's, Ravenclaw's full of nerds with sticks up their arses, and Hufflepuff is for the dumb ones. So, I was explaining this to them so that they could be sorted into the _right_ house, but then the Girl got really, _really_ mad."

"I wonder why?" The presumably sleeping boy said quietly to himself.

The two dark haired boys turned to face the "sleeping" child. "You're awake?" Sirius asked, getting up to pull the cloak off the smaller boy's head.

"Oi," The sandy brown-haired boy said, grabbing his cloak from Sirius. "Yes, I'm awake, have been for a minute or so"

"Do you have an opinion on the matter?" Sirius asked, "And who are you?"

Remus rubbed his eyes, "I'm Remus Lupin. And your opinion on the houses most basic stereotype doesn't mean it's true. However, I would have to agree with your opinion of Ravenclaw. They are nerds and do tend to have sticks up their arses, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing."

"I'm James, and this is Sirius, and maybe your right. But I still think all Slytherins are gits." The boy stuck out his hand and Remus took it.

"Why do you say that?" Sirius asked, curiosity written all over his face.

"Well," James said sitting back in his seat, "They're all evil and mean. They hate muggle-borns and muggles because they think they're inferior to themselves."

"Just for future information," Remus said opening his satchel and getting out a book, "What you just described, is discrimination. Not on your half, just in general."

"How do you know so much?" Sirius asked, sitting at the edge of his seat to try and look over the tip of the smaller boy's book.

Remus held up the object in his hands, "I like to read."

"Hm." James looked around the compartment surveying it all. His eyes widened suddenly and he jumped up to get something. "Exploding Snaps?" he said pulling a deck of cards out of his bag.

Sirius shrugged. "Sure, why not. You wanna play Remus?" The scar plagued boy contemplated for a moment before gently putting his book back in his bag and joining them.


	2. Chapter 2

A New Marauders Era

Chapter 2

Sirius and James raced off the train with their smaller friend trailing not far behind them. James reached the exit first and jumped to the ground.

"I told you I'd win," James said, walking towards the large man shouting, 'first years!'

"Shut up you wanker." Sirius folded his arms and pouted, "Besides, you pushed me."

Remus bent over catching his breath, "do you constantly run everywhere instead of walking?"

James shrugged, "For the most part. But mum doesn't let me run through the kitchen or dining rooms."

Sirius' eyes widened, "You're allowed to run everywhere else?"

"For the most part."

"And you want to?" Remus asked beneath his breath, quiet enough that the others didn't hear him. Remus wasn't much of a runner, mostly because for two weeks out of the month he didn't have the energy or strength. Before Remus knew it, he found himself lagging behind the other two again. They followed their large instructor, whose name happened to be Hagrid, and James jumped on to the boat. After a moment or two of contemplation, Sirius jumped in as well. Remus held his breath as he steadied the small raft before joining his two friends.

James' eyes widened as he looked across to another boat. "What is it mate?" Sirius asked, looking in the same direction as the young Potter.

Remus turned his head to see a girl with fiery red hair and emerald eyes sitting next to a boy with chin length black hair and iris's that looked like pieces of coal. Remus's mouth made a small 'o' shape, "That must be the angry red-head and the drab looking black-haired bloke."

James nodded slowly, hoping that if he didn't make any drastic movements they wouldn't be able to see him.

Sirius shrugged and turned his attention to the water crashing against the boat. "So," Sirius said huffing, "What house do you think you'll be sorted in?"

James looked at him incredulously, "After my whole tirade, do you really think I want to be put anywhere other than Gryffindor."

Sirius pursed his lips and looked down, "Yeah, figures."

Remus smiled, "I think I'll be in Ravenclaw, but my dad says I might be in Gryffindor. Mums a muggle but she says that from what she knows from my books, I should be in Slytherin."

"Slytherin," James curled his lip in disgust. "What about you Sirius?"

Sirius's breath caught in his throat. He looked up towards the stars and shrugged, "I don't know, my family expects me to be in their old house, they have all been in the same house for generations. What house were your parents in? Gryffindor?"

James' eyes lit up, "Yeah. Well, my dad was. My mum was in Ravenclaw. I guess you could say I think she's the only exception to my rule." James brow furrowed, "What house did you say your entire family is in, I don't think I caught it."

Sirius avoided James' eyes and looked around the boat.

"Righ' 'bout here, if ya look towards the edge," Hagrid said motioning towards where he was talking about, "You'll see yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts." All other thoughts were silenced by the "Oh's" and "Ah's" of the first years.

All the first years began to unload off of the boats and followed the half-giant towards the steps to the Great Hall, where a tall lady wearing dark blue robes stood there waiting for them.

"Here ya go, Professor McGonagall." Hagrid said, "All the firs' years- safe an' sound"

"Thank you, Hagrid. That will be all." Professor McGonagall's eyes swept over the crowd of first years, "Smaller class than usual it seems." She smiled. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she motioned to the doors behind her "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingered for a moment on Remus's worn and slightly too large robes, the redhaired girl's eager smile as she turned to her friend to whisper something about the sorting hat, and lastly, the chocolate smeared over a girl's mouth before the professor turned to go into the Great Hall.

"She looks nice," The red-headed girl said aloud to the room, "Sev, that's the woman who came to my house to give me my letter to Hogwarts." She said turning to her drab-looking friend.

The boy's eyes looked around the crowd before the caught sight of one James Potter, "Lily, look!" he said turning her around to see the obnoxious boy.

"Hide me!" James shouted before hiding behind both Sirius and Remus. The girl, Lily, stomped over to the group.

"Potter! Stop hiding like a coward!" Lily said with her arms crossed.

James jumped up, "I'm no coward! You take that back." He demanded, shoving his way between his two new friends.

"I didn't say you _were_ a coward, I said you were _like _a coward." Lily stuck her chin up in the air, "You need to get your hearing checked."

James glared down at the girl, "I heard you loud and clear, you meant to say I was a coward, and if you don't take it back right now, I'll-"

"What are you going to do?" Lily said uncrossing her arms, "Fight me?"

James' eyes swept around the room to see that a crowd had started to form around them. He heard whispers saying, 'he can't fight a _girl_' "No." he said crossing his arms, "I don't need to fight you to make you take it back."

"Well," she tilted her head, "I'm not taking it back."

"You will," James smiled, "If it takes me seven years to make you say it, I will spend everyday bugging you until you take it back."

"Ooh," she wiggled her fingers, "I'm so scared. You're right Potter, I take it back, please don't bug me for the rest of my life" she rolled her eyes, "You're going to forget by the end of the week."

"You're pretty confident about someone you just met earlier today. Besides you don't know how annoying I can be." The door opened and McGonagall walked through. She raised an eyebrow at the sight before her but otherwise ignored it and motioned for the first years to follow her.

Sirius kept his head down and walked slowly toward the front where the first years were congregating. He hadn't been looking where he was going and ran into Remus, which of course caused Remus to stumble and trip over James.

"They're like the three stooges," The dark-haired boy whispered to Lily, who snorted.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," Professor McGonagall said. "Avery, Francis." A curly blond-haired boy walked up the stool and sat down. Immediately the Professor plopped the strange looking hat on to the boy's head and within a minute or so it shouted "Slytherin!"

The table dressed in dark green cheered for its newcomer as McGonagall called the next name. "Bailey, Margret" This time a girl with long Black hair popped on the stool, but Sirius started to get nervous, the list was already on B's, he knew his name would be coming up in minutes. The girl, Margaret, had sat on the stool for longer than the Slytherin boy, but within two minutes the hat called out "Hufflepuff." Sirius took a deep breath.

"Beckham, Joseph." the boy ran up and sat down, but within seconds the hat shouted out "Ravenclaw!" Sirius had to take another deep breath.

"Black, Sirius."

He gulped. He slowly made his way up to the stool and hesitantly sat down.

"Black, he's a Black?" James asked Remus, who seemed to be frowning.

"Hm…" The Sorting hat said inside of Sirius's head, "What do we have here? I haven't sorted a Black for a long while now. I would put you in Slytherin, but after looking through this head of yours it better be- Gryffindor!" The hat shouted.

Sirius felt dizzy. He looked over at Professor McGonagall who was smiling and motioning for him to get up. He was shaking as he walked to the table that was cheering for him. As he sat down, he felt a hard slap on his back that nearly made him throw up. He smiled at the blurs around him. He blinked a couple of times until he could see clearly. As he looked up towards the sorting ceremony, he saw a girl name "Amelia Bones" get sorted into Ravenclaw.

James cheered for his new friend as he watched Sirius go over and sit at the Gryffindor table. He tried to catch Sirius's eye, but he seemed to be intently staring at his lap. Soon enough Lily Evans was called up to the stool. Where would she be sorted? She's a smart-ass so probably Ravenclaw. James jaw dropped when the Hat called out "Gryffindor." Another jaw dropped at this idea but soon recovered as he smiled and cheered for his friend.

Remus smiled for the sweet girl as she ran down the steps to sit at the Gryffindor table. He had found the conversation between Lily and James quite ridiculous, but he didn't want to upset his new friend, so he stayed quiet. Last names starting with the letter "E" became the letter "G" which became the letter "H," then "J" and "K" until finally, Remus heard the professor call "Lupin, Remus."

Remus swallowed and took a deep breath as he walked to the stool. He tried to remember everything he had learned over the past few months as he was tutoring himself. Soon enough the hat was dropped on his head and began to talk inside his brain.

"A werewolf, huh?" the hat said. Remus started to hyperventilate, but he looked around and saw no one else was freaking out. Good, they couldn't hear the hat. "I don't think I have sorted one of you in a long, long time. You guys are always interesting because there is that innate courage that comes with the territory, but you-you are very smart. Almost too clever for your own good. Not very ambitious, Slytherin could help with that. But your too… kind. Slytherins can be kind, but I think this characteristic will hinder you from making friends with them, they won't accept you quickly," Remus frowned. No one would ever accept him. "Insecure, are we? Well then, better be – Gryffindor!"

Remus's brow furrowed before he smiled and walked over to the table cheering for him. He saw a seat empty across from Sirius and sat down. Sirius looked up from his plate and smiled at him before looking back down.

James screamed his head off. Both of his new friends had made it to Gryffindor. Who knew? He must be that good of an influence on them.

"McDonald, Mary."

Gryffindor

"McKinnon, Marlene."

"Gryffindor."

"Moore, Edwin."

"Hufflepuff!"

Another Ravenclaw, another Slytherin, two more Hufflepuff, and finally the name James had been waiting for- "Potter, James."

James raced up the steps and almost knocked the stool over. He sat down and before the at could barely touch his head the hat shouted out- "Gryffindor!" James grinned and ran over to his new family and sat down next to Sirius. McGonagall called the next name, "Prewitt, Alice."

"Told you I would be in Gryffindor." He said bumping shoulders with Sirius.

"Yeah," Sirius said looking up at James as everyone around them started to cheer for the next person sorted into their house, "You did."

"Why didn't you tell us you were a Black?" James asked as he shoveled food onto his plate.

"I didn't want you to assume I was… like them."

Remus smiled, "Well, you're in Gryffindor now, you don't have to be like them." Sirius took a deep breath in and nodded.

James started piling food onto his friend's plates, "You both should really eat," Sirius and Remus stared at the Potter, 'What? You're both too skinny."

* * *

A/N: thanks so much for reading! I hope you like it so far, I know I do.

I'm sorry about making up quite a few names but I am only trying to rectify one of J.K.'s plot holes- the fact that to have 1,000 students attending Hogwarts there would need to be at least 142 students per year and honestly I'm not helping by much because in my mind there were about 30 students that were sorted and I sort of skimmed past the third half of the alphabet but, who cares, right?

Stay in tune next time to find out why they dislike one Severus Snape!


	3. Chapter 3

A New Marauders Era

Chapter 3

* * *

James was munching happily on his breakfast not paying attention to a single thing around him as he was reading the morning paper. He had gotten up especially early to make sure he had everything ready for the first day of school, but then got kicked out of the dorm when he woke his new friends up at 5 o'clock in the morning to ask them if his hair looked alright. Suddenly he felt something sit down next to him.

"James, what the hell were you thinking? Why were you even awake that early?" Sirius grumbled as he rested his head on his hand, trying to rub the sleepiness out of his eyes.

"I always get up early," James said, folding up the newspaper and setting it on the bench to his right. "I thought you guys wouldn't mind, seeing as you were awake at midnight."

"How do those words even make sense to you?"

"Well, you were awake and so I figured you didn't mind being awake again. Besides, it's not my fault."

Remus looked stunned from across the table. "How?" he said with his brow furrowing.

James rolled his eyes. "You guys woke me up last night so I had trouble falling back asleep, and I figured I would return the favor and wake you up. Besides I was bored."

Remus sighed and poured himself some coffee, "Welcome to the rest of our Hogwarts career," he held up his glass, "cheers."

Sirius shook his head and then dropped onto the table.

"Why were you guys up so late anyway? James asked as he started putting more food on his plate.

Sirius shrugged, "Just some first night jitters, that's all." Remus raised an eyebrow, "I… I know my family won't be pleased about where I was sorted."

James brow furrowed, "What does that matter?"

Sirius bit his lip, "It doesn't, I suppose." He looked down at his plate. Remus saw that his hands were shaking before they were hidden beneath the table.

"Then why were you awake for so long."

Remus smiled. "You're an only child, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Me too." Remus said while bobbing his head, "Sirius was just telling me about his brother, Regulus. He'll be at Hogwarts next year. We were just talking about what want to accomplish this year and such. Getting to know each other type of things. What do you want to do James?" Sirius shot Remus a grateful smile and looked back down at his plate.

James grinned, "Cause mischief. And I think you two are the perfect people to help me. I can think up the ideas and you two can help me carry them out." He looked around the room before leaning in and whispering, "I have the perfect first prank that we can pull on some unsuspecting Slytherins. What do you say?"

Remus bit his lip and looked over a Sirius, whose demeanor had changed at the idea of causing a little mischief. He shrugged and looked behind James to find a tall girl from the Slytherin table waltz over to their little group.

"Well, look." Her cool voice said, causing Sirius to clench his entire body. He started to shake again. "It's my little blood traitor cousin and his little blood traitor friends. How does it feel to betray your entire family, huh? I received a letter from your Mummy and Daddy, and they expressed their feelings quite plainly. Would you like to hear what they feel?"

Sirius clenched his teethed, "Go away, Cissy."

"You would? How wonderful! They are so interested to know exactly how their failure of an heir achieved the exact opposite of what he was conditioned to be." She turned him around to face her, "I am too, quite honestly, even my disgraceful sister, of all people, got in Slytherin. However, you- the coward of the family- got into Gryffindor? Hardly believable. Did you beg the hat to put you there? Are that ashamed of such a noble ancestry?"

Sirius glared at her, "I am not a coward. I take everything that is given to me. I don't back down or try and blame someone else. You're the one always blaming me when things go wrong! And how did they find out?"

She smirked and crossed her arms, "I sent an express letter last night." Sirius's felt tears well up in his eyes, but he blinked them back. "They are making room in their schedule to come here today to meet and discuss with Dumbledore." With that, she turned around and went back to her table to finish breakfast.

"That bitch," James said frowning at the back of the girls head.

Remus worried his bottom lip, "Are you alright?"

Sirius shot up out of his seat, "Yeah, I'm" He took a deep breath in, "Fine- I'm fine." James put his hand on his friend's arm but was shook off, "I think I forgot something in the dorm. I'll see you in charms." And with that Sirius ran out of the Great Hall.

"We should go check on him," Remus said frantically looking between the door and James.

"He said he forgot something. You're going to look awfully silly running after him when he just has to grab a book." James said picking up _The Daily Prophet _and turning to the page about quidditch.

"Do you really believe that after what just happened?"

"No,"

"Besides, Charms isn't for another hour and a half."

* * *

Sirius felt like he couldn't breathe. He splashed more water on his face. What were his parents going to do? What would happen when they arrived? Would they take him out of Hogwarts? Would they put him in Durmstrang and cut off all communications to the outside world? Sirius leaned back on the wall and slid down to the floor. He felt tear well up in his eyes and his back shutter. He squeezed his legs closer to his body and buried his face. Suddenly, he felt a hand touch his arms.

"Are you alright?" He heard a soft voice say. He couldn't find it in himself to answer. "What wrong, Sirius isn't it? What wrong Sirius," The voice said again as the owner of the voice sat crisscross in front of him. "Would you like me to get Potter, or the other one, something Lupin?"

Sirius looked up to see bright emerald eyes framed by a dark red blob. Sirius blinked, it was hair, not a blob. "The angry red-head." He said while wiping his face on his sleeve.

She smiled, "You can call me Lily. Can I ask what's wrong?"

"I'm guessing you weren't at breakfast then."

She pursed her lips. "No, I was, just a lot earlier than you I suspect. What happened?

Sirius took a deep breath, "I should have been in Slytherin. They all are. My cousins, my parents, everyone. But I'm not."

Lily's brow furrowed. "And that's a problem? Aren't they proud that you're at Hogwarts?"

"Do you not know who my family is?" Sirius said throwing his hands up, "of course you don't, you're just a Mud-blood."

Lily's brow furrowed, "That doesn't sound like a nice term."

"It isn't, but it's all I've been raised on. My parents are the people petitioning for all mud blood's to be banned from the wizarding world and for all werewolves to be executed. My parents don't have a clue what the word proud means, let alone how to use it." He took a deep breath, "I just want my brother to be safe, but I'm not there to protect him, and now my parents are angry, and they'll probably take it out on him." He ran his hands through his hair.

"Your parents don't sound very nice," Lily looked down at her lap, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No."

She paused before she swept his hair out of his eyes, "Then I'll do the only thing I know." she shuffled beside him and wrapped her arms around his small figure.

He cried softly as she held him. "Why do you care?"

"I don't really know."

Minute after minute passed until it had felt like an hour. Sirius had stopped shaking and his tears were drying up.

"How do you feel?" Lily asked as he pulled away from her.

"Tired, but better I think." Sirius got up and splashed more water in his face. He stared at the red surrounding his silver irises. "Can… can you not mention this? To anyone?"

Lily smiled, "Don't want to damage your street cred?"

"Sure," he said chuckling, "Whatever that means."

* * *

Just because he said he wouldn't see us for over an hour and a half, doesn't automatically mean something is wrong," James said to his small friend as they searched the fifth boy's bathroom they could find.

Remus huffed, "Empathy isn't your strong suit, is it?"

James stopped, "No, but strategizing is. He wasn't in the dorm, nor the common room, nor any of the boy's bathrooms on the way to class. Where would you go if you didn't want to be bothered?"

Remus shrugged, "Girls loo probably. No one would look for me there."

"Yes, but we don't have time to search them all. Which one is closest to the Great hall?"

"I think the better question is, which one is on the way to charms?"

"No, the better question is why do I have two students that seem to be missing?" Professor McGonagall said looking down at the two children in front of her.

"Well, you found us so we're probably not missing anymore," James said turning around to face the tall woman. "Hello, Professor, what do you need us for?"

She smiled at the messy-haired child, "Nothing, but it seems we have similar interests at the moment, you're looking for Mr. Black I presume?"

"Yes, we are. I am also starting to think we aren't the two students missing. Who else can't you find?" Remus asked, looking sideways at his friend.

"No, Mr. Black and one other student are nowhere to be found. Do either of you know where to look?"

"Yes, but not where to start. We think he's going to be found in a girl's bathroom." James said smiling. "Who is the other student?"

"Ms. Lily Evans. Her friend Mr. Snape is quite concerned as they were to meet before class and she never turned up. We've looked in all the obvious places, as have you I suppose. Would you like to work together, perhaps?" The professor said motioning for them to come with her.

"Isn't Snape a Slytherin?" James asked crossing his arms.

"Yes, is that a problem?"

"No," Remus interrupted. He mouthed a quick sorry to his frowning friend and followed his professor.

"I've been asking around and it seems no one enters the second-floor girl's laboratory." The dark-haired boy named Severus Snape said to Professor McGonagall.

"Well done, Mr. Snape," The young boy flinched at the name, "The second-floor girl's laboratory would be a good place to hide, however, I don't know why we would find Miss Evans there." Professor McGonagall said leading the way to the girl's bathroom.

It didn't take very long until then ran, quite literally, into one unsuspecting Sirius Black. "What the hell!" Sirius shouted as he rubbed his head and picked himself off the ground.

James shifted from foot to foot, "Sorry Sirius, I didn't see you come around the corner."

"Language, Mr. Black. I will disregard it this time because it's a first-time offense, however, if I hear language like that again, I will be forced to take away points."

"Duly noted," Sirius said rubbing his sore bottom.

"Now that we've found the dim-wit, where is Lily?" Snape asked folding his arms and glaring at the newcomer.

"I think I'd like to take offense to that. And how should I know?" Sirius said walking over to the cross child.

Snape rolled his eyes, "Professor, I think I'll just go back to the library, she's probably there waiting for me, and I've wasted all this time on an escapade that is extremely unsuccessful. Thank you for trying." He said turning around and walking away.

"Alright, Mr. Black, you need to come with me to Professor Dumbledore's office. Mr. Lupin, Mr. Potter, I believe your charms class is starting soon, I will return Mr. Black to you when they are finished." Professor McGonagall placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder and led him away from the group.

"Yikes, barely 12 hours and he's already in the Headmaster's office, that doesn't set a good tone for the next several years," James said as he watched them walk away. "Welp, what do you say, Rem? Should we go to class or finish that prank on the Slytherins I mentioned?" Remus rolled his eyes and walked away.

Charms went swimmingly according to the trio. Sirius had only come near the end, so he definitely was fine with it. He was quieter than usual, but he kept a smile on his face.

"What do we have next?" Sirius asked as he looked over Remus's shoulder to see the schedule.

"Potions, but not until after lunch," Remus answered, looking closely to see where potions would be located. "It seems we have to go to the dungeons."

"Snake territory," James said rubbing his hands together. "Can we please play my prank? I've had to wait three whole hours. I think that's long enough. Besides, it will only take a second and I have all the supplies in my bag."

Sirius's eyes lit up. "Of course! What are you planning? Does it involve stink bombs?" He asked, bouncing slightly as he walked.

James smiled, "What else? The plan is to set them up right outside the potion's classroom, right in the doorway, and a couple right inside." He opened up his bag to reveal several stink bombs, "As everyone walks in, we'll distract them so that they 'll step on the stink bombs and set them off without noticing."

Remus shook his head at the two boys conspiring over mischief. "Come on. Let's eat lunch so we can get to class early."

* * *

After lunch, the three boys raced down to the dungeons and searched for the potion's classroom.

"It's over here," Sirius said motioning for his friends to follow him but as he looked in the classroom he suddenly turned around and nearly tripped his friends.

"What?" James asked, peaking over Sirius's arm, that was held up to keep him from going any further.

"Professor," Sirius whispered pointing into the classroom. "I'll distract him while you two set up stink bombs."

The three boys nodded, and Sirius walked into the room and set his things down.

Sirius took a deep breath and swallowed. "Excuse me, Professor Slughorn, right? I'm excited that you're our Potions teacher, I hear you're very talented."

"Oh, hello m'boy. Why thank you, Mr. Black. I'm sorry about Dumbledore not being able to move you into my house. I understand your parents were quite upset over the sorting, which is understandable. However, we cannot control the sorting hat and once his decisions are made, Dumbledore doesn't like to reverse them." Sirius walked towards the desk and faced the professor in a way which made Slughorn face away from the door.

"It's alright, Professor, it's not your fault. I'm just happy my parents didn't pull me out. I'm happy to be here." Sirius said glancing down and fidgeted with his hands.

"That's good. You're here awfully early," the Professor said looking down at his watch, "you really must be eager to get the year started. How would you like a preview of the lesson for today?"

"Oh," Sirius glanced behind his professor as James and Remus were quietly setting up the dung bombs, "That would be lovely," Sirius said with a forced smile.

* * *

Sirius and James were both rolling on the floors laughing. Their prank went perfectly. The first couple was set off by Severus Snape and Lily Evans as they walked in the classroom, the next few by three Slytherins and the last ones by Professor Slughorn when he came over to check on the problem.

"Mr. Black, Mr. Potter, and Mr. Lupin, I expected better from all of you." the Professor said coughing into a handkerchief, "I taught each of your parents and I don't believe they would have considered doing anything like this. Detention- all three of you."

Remus looked appalled, "You can't prove it was us. Anyone could have snuck in her and set them up. We can't be guilty just because we were laughing. And honestly, if we were the culprits, I think we would be smarter than to laugh at our own prank."

"I just find it funny that in all that time, no one learned to look down and check to see if they were going to step on another one," James said throwing his hands up in surrender.

"Oh, I suppose it _could _have been someone else. And it does seem unlikely, knowing your breeding. Oh, never mind then." Professor Slughorn said waving a hand in the air. "But do remember not to pull such a thing if you ever do have the urge." He moved up to the front of the classroom, "Well then, class, take your seats. Alright, Welcome to your first ever Potions class here at Hogwarts. You will soon learn how to do amazing things with this art, but for the first couple of classes, we will be focusing on the basics. Identification and how to cut and measure.

"I know you all come from various backgrounds with varying degrees of experience," He held up a white flower with a black stem. "Does anyone know what this is?" three hands shot up, Slughorn turned around to Sirius, who was staring at both his hands underneath the table. "Mr. Black? Do you know?"

Sirius looked up, slightly bewildered, "Uhm….. I know it's in my potions kit." He said looking down again.

"That's right, however not an answer. Let's see, what about you- Mr.?"

"Snape, Sir. And the flower isMoly." The dark-haired boy said with certainty.

"Correct! Five points to Slytherin." Professor Slughorn looked down at his desk. "Well, it seems like I have decided to create a little contest to show everyone how to cut up ingredients. May I have two volunteers?" James, Lily and a few others raised their hands. "Of course, Mr. Snape and Mr. Potter, would you like to be my examples?" James smiled and ran up to the front while Lily shoved Severus out of his seat and up to the front of the room. "Alright now, each of you will have one Moly to prepare correctly. You will remember that instructions on cutting and preparing Moly were part of your summer reading. Whoever does so correctly will win their house ten points." Professor Slughorn smiled and set up the stations for the two boys. "Ready… Set… Go!"

The two set off separating the stem from the petals and cutting each petal individually. When their time was up, they both stepped back from the table. James smirked at Snape, while the latter roller his eyes and looked back at the rows of students and took a deep breath.

"Well, Mr. Snape, Mr. Potter, it seems you both did your research. I am very proud at how you knew exactly what to do, however, I will have to give the points to Mr. Snape." The Professor said examining the flowers once again.

"Why?" James exclaimed with his brow furrowing.

Professor Slughorn took a deep breath in, "Well Mr. Potter, it seems Mr. Snape must have paid slightly more attention since he cut his petals into fifths, not fourths. Seeing as how you would get an incorrect measurement of petal-pieces, your potion would be ruined. Well done Mr. Snape and ten points to Slytherin." James glared at the smiling boy who took his seat quietly. "However, this is a great example of reading the instructions carefully, otherwise your potion will be off, which can be drastic in certain situations." Professor Slughorn droned on.

"I think I hate him," James said to Sirius as he took a seat. he glanced over to Snape who was smiling at something Lily had said.

"Professor Slughorn or Snape?" Sirius asked looking over towards Remus who was dutifully taking notes.

"Yes." He said watching as the professor lectured on about the correct way to cut ingredients.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for reading another chapter! Sorry that it took so long to put out a chapter. I've been busy with school and then I had to rewrite some parts so that it stayed more in character and mad more sense and was less cheesy, so you can thank me. Anyway if you have any questions, feel free to message me, or comment- PLEASE comment. I love hearing what people have to say. Have a great rest of your day- or night!


	4. Chapter 4

A New Marauders Era

Chapter 4

Sirius laid awake in his bed, restlessly trying to go to sleep. No matter how much he tried, his mind always wandered back to the meeting in Dumbledore's office.

"Professor Dumbledore, we would prefer if our child were taught by capable minds who know how to handle a misunderstanding. We demand to take him away." A shrewd voice echoed through Sirius's head. The words sat with him for four weeks replaying every time he closed his eyes.

"Please understand Mrs. Black that it is completely unreasonable to uproot the boy and take him elsewhere just because we won't move him to a different faction of our school." The memory of Dumbledore's soft voice calmed the young boy.

Sirius threw off the covers and walked over to the window. He sat down and watched the silver orb shinning in the sky grow dim as it passed behind a cloud. Sirius took a deep breath and pulled his knees closer to his body.

"Walburga, we've already invested enough money into this child, perhaps it's a lost cause. We still have one son who can prove himself. This one has always been defective." Orion Black whispered to his wife, but Sirius had been close enough to hear every word.

Sirius closed his eyes and saw the look on his mother's face as she said, "We will be leaving now. Do what you want with the boy, just don't expect anything from us next time your school needs funds." She then stormed out of the room.

As Orion left, he went over to Sirius to "say goodbye," but instead told him he wouldn't be a welcome home for Christmas.

Sirius's breaths grew shorter and quicker as he thought about all that would mean. He wouldn't be able to check on Regulus. He wouldn't be home to protect his brother. Sirius jumped as he felt a hand touch his back.

"It's alright, it's just me," James soothed. He sat opposite of Sirius on the window sill. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Sirius said wiping his eyes on his sleeves. "I'm fine, just a…. a nightmare. Yeah, that's it. Only a nightmare. Woke me up and I had trouble falling back asleep, That's all." Sirius took a deep breath to try and soothe himself.

"You can tell me the truth, you know," James said folding his legs under his arms to copy Sirius.

"I swear, it's nothing," Sirius said looking down at his lap.

"And I swear I didn't try to sneak into the girl's dormitory yesterday. What's up?" James yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"I just can't sleep. My parents seem to be haunting me for some merlin-forsaken reason. I can't seem to shake what they said at the meeting."

James rested his head back on the wall, "You never did tell us about that. What happened?"

"They threatened to pull me out of Hogwarts if they didn't let me be re-sorted. Dumbledore argued the sacredness of the sorting hat and how they can't override its decisions. My parents threatened some more. I don't know why. They act as they do so much for the school, but they haven't done anything. They protest almost yearly for Professor Dumbledore to be removed. They're such hypocrites and I hate them." Sirius took another deep breath and looked out the window.

James stayed quiet for a moment, "I'm surprised you can see that. Most children don't notice that their parents can be wrong. I mean I don't see my parent's world view as being wrong very often. When you raised with one thing your entire life, you rarely can imagine anything else."

Sirius looked towards the Hogwarts grounds and smiled wistfully, "Yeah, well, my parents had a tendency of handing me off to my Aunt and Uncle over the summers. I spent most of the time with my cousin Andromeda." Sirius's eyes lit up, "She's been disowned for marrying a Mudblood. Andy's taught me a lot."

James scrunched his nose, "Yeah, but she hasn't taught you to not say that word."

Sirius flinched, "Sorry."

James smiled, "It's alright, Sirius, No, harm done. Just," James paused and took a deep breath, "Try not to say something like that again."

Sirius smiled, "You might have to give me a list."

James laughed, "Alright, let's get to bed."

Sirius wrung his hands together, "I probably won't be able to sleep."

James shrugged, "You can sleep with me in my bed if you want,"

Sirius's brow furrowed "In your bed?" James nodded, "With you?" James nodded again. "Isn't that a bit queer?"

James rolled his eyes, "It's not like we would be doing anything, Sirius. It's just whenever I can't sleep, it helps to sleep in bed with someone else. I normally do it with my parents."

Sirius looked warily between James and the bed, "I suppose it's better than nothing."

* * *

"What the hell are you two doing?" A voice rang through the dorm. Sirius and James jumped away from each other and fell off the bed.

"Nothing," Sirius yelled, "It was nothing I swear!"

"Are you cheating on me with James?" Remus yelled back in mock hurt, putting a hand over his heart.

"I swear it's just the one time."

"And I thought I was your only cuddle buddy-" James piped in with a frown forming on his face- "Here you've been cuddling with Remus this whole time?" Remus bit the inside of his cheek to keep him from smiling.

"James, it's not like that. I accidentally fell asleep on top of Remus the other day," Sirius said glaring at the whole charade. He got up and went over to his trunk to get his robes.

James tried and failed, to choke back a laugh. "You accidentally fell asleep on Remus? How do you accidentally fall asleep on a human being?" James' face scrunched up in thought. "Actually, how did Remus not wake up?"

Remus's face turned the slightest shade of pink. "I'm a deep sleeper, I guess." He went back to his bed to gather his clothes. "Who wants the shower first?"

James yawned, "What time is it?"

"8:30"

"Blimey, I never sleep that long," James ran over to the bathroom, "I call shower first."

"Damn," Sirius sighed, "He always takes the longest. Well, who needs a shower anyway?"

* * *

Day after day went by until the time of the month came that Remus dreaded the most. He took a deep shaky breath. 'It's the same as last month,' he told himself, 'Madame Pomphrey will walk me to the tree and reactivate it once I'm down the path. No one can get hurt.' Remus closed his eyes and opened the doors to the infirmary. He had made an excuse after the trio's last class to explain his absence for the evening. Sirius had been concerned, but James had soon distracted him with the idea of his latest prank. 'they won't even notice that I'm gone' Remus thought as he walked slowly into the empty wing. He stood in front of the entrance to Madame Pomphrey's office, looking around for any sign of the mediwitch.

Suddenly, Remus heard footsteps somewhere behind him, he turned around to look for the source, but no one was there. A minute or so later, Madame Pomphrey entered the hospital wing.

"There you are," she said as she walked over to the young boy. "I wasn't sure if I needed to retrieve you or not. Are you ready?" Remus nodded, "Alright, then, let's be off." The Mediwitch motioned for him to begin their trek to the Whomping Willow.

They walked the corridors, through the atrium and down the forest path that lead to the murderous Tree. Remus felt the chill of the crisp October air that reminded him that winter wasn't too far off. Remus hated transforming in the winter. He would wake up naked and almost dying of hypothermia until his parents thought it safe to come in and patch him up. Remus hated being a burden to them, no matter how often they would tell him he wasn't.

Madame Pomphrey froze the tree, "Are you alright from here?" Remus nodded, "Alright, I'll be back at sunrise to help you back to the infirmary." She tried to give him a reassuring smile, but she wasn't sure what else to say. What do you tell someone who is about to turn into a monstrous beast who tears at his skin because there isn't anyone else to hurt, 'be safe?' Remus has no control over anything that happens when he's in that state. Instead, she sighed and turned to go back to the castle while Remus went into the tree.

Remus could already feel the wolf- the impatience, anger, and excitement to see what might happen this time. He took another deep breath, trying and failing to calm the anxiety creeping up his back and making him want to hide from himself. His breath already started to quicken; Remus knew he was going to have a panic attack- he always did. Remus had been biting the inside of his cheek and suddenly started tasting blood. He arrived at the entrance to the shrieking shack and entered the creaky house. He went upstairs to the bedroom and went over to the window- it was almost dark, almost transforming time. Remus walked over to the bed and gently took off and folded his school robes. He then went over to put them on a shelf, where, hopefully, the wolf wouldn't be able to reach. He sat down on the bed, not wanting to be walking around exposed, even if there was no one to see him.

Almost half an hour passed before Remus felt the excruciating pain that he was reminded of month after month. It caught him off guard and caused him to cry out. He ground his teeth together and breathed in sharply. To say that this was unbearable was almost an understatement. The first time this ever happened he had been crying because his father had locked him in their shed and wouldn't tell him why. His mother had been crying, and he had been feeling awful all day.

Without warning, the wind was knocked out of Remus as if he had been body slammed into the wall. He tried to cry out, but he couldn't breathe. When he regained his breath, it was taken away again by a scream he was unable to control. Every bone in his body was breaking and forming onto a body of a wolf. Remus's vision blurred and then blackened all together. Brown eyes turned to amber, skin turned to fur, Remus turned to the wolf.

* * *

"Good morning," James said as his black-haired friend sat down for breakfast at the Gryffindor table. His friends' eyes looked dark and sleep-deprived, "Not-so-good morning, then?"

"Didn't sleep much," Sirius said, yawning as he put his chin on his hand. "I wonder when Remus'll be back."

James shrugged and looked back at his morning paper, "he said he should be back this morning. However, if his mum is actually sick, he should be gone for much longer."

Sirius bit his lip and poured himself some pumpkin juice. "He won't like missing classes, that's probably why he only goes to see her for a night." Sirius's faced scrunched up. "How do you think he gets home? I mean, they wouldn't make him take the train for just one night."

"They probably let him use the floo in Dumbledore's office."

Sirius looked at the buffet of food set out before him and sighed. He gingerly took a small portion of beans and a sausage. James looked up from his paper and stared at Sirius with his brow furrowed. He looked at Sirius's plate and back at Sirius.

"Is that all you're going to eat?" James asked.

Sirius shrugged, "Not hungry."

James raised an eyebrow, "Are you really worried about Remus? He's only been gone for an evening."

Silver eyes rolled, "I just don't eat breakfast all that often."

"But you didn't eat much for dinner last night, either. And we skipped lunch yesterday. Is there any meal you prefer?"

"One where I'm not being bothered by my friends," Sirius grumbled as he got up from the table and walked out of the great hall. He wasn't watching where he was going, and soon enough bumped into a slim, dark figure. "Watch where you're going, will you?"

"It isn't my fault, you bumped into me." an aristocratic voice seethed. The blond figure huffed and turned around, and blue eyes narrowed at the sight of Sirius, "You."

Sirius gulped, "Malfoy."

The Slytherin grabbed Sirius by the collar of his robes. "What did you think you were doing?"

"I wasn't- you were in the way."

"What right do you have to push me out of the way? I'm a prefect. You're just a lowly first-year Gryffindor," a devious smirk formed on the prefect's face. "Perhaps, you don't know your place here at Hogwarts quite yet." Lucius took out his wand and pulled Sirius to his feet by his tie. "Levicorpus."

Sirius's eyes widened and his breathing quickened, "Malfoy- "

"Muffliato," Lucius sneered, "That's much better. Congiuntivitium." Sirius felt something bubbling in his eyes and he tried to call out for someone to help him. "Pontura," Sirius's whole body began to feel like a big bee sting, "relashio."

Sirius hit the wall behind him and feel to the ground with a thump.

* * *

"What the hell happened?" Sirius heard a voice asked someone, hopefully not him because he had no idea. All he knows is that his head hurts. "I wasn't even gone for a day and one of you ends up in the infirmary!"

"Calm down, Remus. Besides I don't know any more than you do." Another voice said. Sirius moaned and opened his eyes, blinking them a couple of times to readjust them to the light.

"Sirius," the scarred boy smiled and walked over to Sirius's side.

Sirius rubbed the bump on his head, "Wh-what happened?"

James, who Sirius identified as the second voice, shrugged, "We wanted to ask you that. A girl from Ravenclaw found you not far from the great hall on her way to class. You were all beat up, but no one saw anything. Do you remember what happened?"

"I- I don't think so, the last thing I remember is coming back from Charms yesterday."

James's eyebrows shot up into his hairline, he looked over at Remus who was wearing a similar expression. "That was yesterday morning. Is that really the last thing you remember?" Sirius nodded slowly, wincing at the slight ache of his head.

"Madame Pomphrey had said he has a small concussion, maybe that's caused some memory loss," Remus suggested, sitting down in the chair by Sirius's bed. Sirius only then started to notice how tired and disheveled Remus looked.

Sirius looked around the rest of the infirmary, which was darker than he had expected. Sirius's brow furrowed, "What time is it?" he looked at the clock above the door of the Hospital Wing. "Seven o'clock? Wow, I missed an entire day."

"You both did." James said crossing his arms, "I had to attend every class without anyone to entertain me."

Remus rolled his eyes, "Poor thing, did you actually have to pay attention in class?"

James threw his hands up in the air, "Yes! Professor McGonagall wouldn't even let me take a nap."

"Oh no, that must have been awful. Well, at least you can catch us up on what you learned."

Sirius smiled and chuckled, "I think I'd rather get another concussion."

* * *

The excitement of the Halloween celebration feast made the four weeks of waiting worth it. The Great Hall was teeming with Jack-o-Lanterns that had been charmed to float throughout the room. The Hall was dazzling with twinkling candles, and every table was piled with pies and cakes and every dessert the House Elves could dream up.

The Gryffindor trio waltzed into the Great hall and sat at their usual spots. Three pairs of eyes lit up at the sight of so many sweets. James wasted no time in piling his plate with as many of the sweets as he possibly could. Remus surveyed the entire table and strategically picked only the most chocolatey desserts he could find. Sirius piled his plate with chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes, nonchalantly picking at the food as he animatedly talked with James about their next prank.

"We have to think of something better than charming the sinks in the bathroom on the third floor to simultaneously overflow every time someone tries to use them," Sirius said taking a small bite of his chocolate frog. "Although, that was pretty interesting to watch."

"But it wasn't that funny." James reminded him.

"It was when the one sink randomly exploded and nearly made that one kid wet himself."

Remus shook his head, "If we're going to play pranks, we might as well make them less of an inconvenience to people and more of a distraction, or something that catches them off guard."

"Remus Lupin, are you helping us think up pranks to pull on people?" Sirius said in mock surprise. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"Shove off," Remus said, rolling his eyes and playfully hitting Sirius's arm. "Besides, if you two are going to rope me into pulling them off, I might as well help you plan them. Especially if we don't want to get caught."

James raised an eyebrow, "What suggest we do?"

Remus put down his fork for a moment, eyes searching his mind for an answer. "Something, big." A smile slowly formed on the scarred boys face, "I think the Giant Squid is lonely, what do you think?"

* * *

Three days after the big feast, Sirius found himself waking up with dread lying at the pit of his stomach. He begrudgingly sat up in bed, only because he knew if he were to lay in bed much longer, he would probably miss breakfast. There was only one good thing that would come out of today, and that was that there would be more than one Giant squid. At that thought, Sirius brightened considerably and drug himself out of bed and into the bathroom. He returned to find an owl sitting outside his window. He went over to let the owl in when he noticed that his roommates were all still asleep. His brow furrowed and he checked his watch. 6:30. Bloody hell, Sirius thought to himself. He always slept in so late he didn't even consider the fact he might have awoken early than usual.

Sirius opened the window and let the owl in, the owl promptly sat it's package down and perched on the window sill to let Sirius take the letter from its leg. Sirius thanked the owl with some treats and unrolled the letter.

_Sirius_

_Happy Birthday! I know it's a bit late but congratulations on being sorted into Gryffindor, I never doubted you would be put anywhere else. I hope you're making lots of friends who you will let celebrate today with you. Even if you're not very fond of the fact, it is your birthday and no matter what your mother and father tell you, that is a reason to celebrate. I hope you enjoy your present, even though it's not much. I wanted to let you know that you are ALWAYS welcome to come and visit Ted and I if you ever wanted to and I hope you will consider this an early invitation to Christmas. _

_Love,_

_Cousin Andy_

Sirius smiled and opened up the parcel. Inside was a bar of Honey dukes Finest and a black box with a circle with glass at the end sticking out of it. Upon further investigation, Sirius found it was a muggle camera, charmed to work even with magical interference.

Sirius grinned and turned back toward the beds of his friends. He snuck up to the one he knew hid James and slowly pulled back the curtain. Sirius brought the lens up to his face and pressed the button that was supposed to take the picture. a bright flash told him it had worked. James jumped, gasping and falling out of his bed in fright. Sirius hunched over holding his stomach as he laughed. "You should see the look on your face, mate!"

James glared at the brunet. "What was that for? And what are you holding?"

"My birthday present from my cousin. It's a muggle camera that's charmed to be able to work here at Hogwarts."

"Wait…. It's your Birthday?"

"That is normally when one receives birthday presents

"But- why didn't you tell us before?"

Sirius shrugged, "I sort of wanted to forget about it, but then I was reminded, I'm not alone."

James shook his head, "Who wants to forget their birthday?"

Sirius hmphed, "Perhaps someone who has never had a reason to remember it. Birthdays aren't exactly special in my house. To celebrate a birthday, you would have to care about the person whose birthday it was." Sirius glared at the ground.

James pursed his lips, not knowing what to say. He looked over at Remus's empty bed. "Well, when Remus gets back, we'll just have to make sure this is a birthday you never forget."

Sirius let a smile slip on his face. "Come on, we have a Squid to make Giant."

* * *

Sirius and James hunched down as they snuck around Hagrid, the groundkeeper's, hut.

"Are you sure he's keeping a squid out back?" Sirius asked his friend as he looked behind them to make sure no one was coming.

"Positive. He told me himself a week ago." James said, checking each container he came across.

"We didn't even have this plan until three days ago, how did you find out about the squid a week ago?"

"Well, when I realized Hagrid had a fascination with animals, especially magical ones, I thought it would be wise to keep him as a close friend, so I've been having tea with him on Saturday afternoons." James closed the lid on a container and opened the lid of another one, "You should join me sometime, he has a lot of really cool animals." James checked two more containers before yelling "A-Ha!"

"Brilliant, now let's get out of here before we get caught," Sirius said grinning as the creature. The two boys carried the container full of squid up to the entrance of the castle.

"We should probably wait for Remus to carry out the rest of our plan since it was his idea anyway," James said, leaning up against the wall.

"Yeah, probably," Sirius said as he sat down on the container. "But we still need to set it up, and it has to happen at lunch so that we know no one will see it."

James scratched his head and looked around, suddenly he stood up straight and smoothed out his hair. Sirius turned his head to see Lily Evans walking down the hall. Sirius rolled his eyes and turned his attention back on his friend.

"Do you honestly fancy her?" The brunet asked.

James avoided Sirius eyes, "Pft, me like Evans? No."

Sirius shook his head, "Right," he looked down at his watch. "How much longer do you think Remus will be gone?" when he looked back up, he noticed he had been talking to a wall. Sirius turned around to find James jogging to catch up to the redhead. "Oh bother," he groaned, looking down at the container he was guarding. Sirius weighed his options, 'watch James humiliate himself,' or 'make sure no one finds the squid they stole.' Sirius looked around and found what seemed to be an abandoned broom closet. He shoved the container in the closet and ran to catch up with his friend.

"Hello Evans, might I say you look lovely this morning," James said as he caught up to the girl in question. She rolled her eyes and tried to ignore him. "I see you a missing a shadow and I thought I might offer my services."

Lily's brow creased, "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Your Slytherin friend, Snake."

Lily huffed, "It's Snape if anything, and he's not my shadow."

"He sure acts like one," James mumbled, "anyhow, I was wondering if you would honor me with your presence at lunch."

"Are you asking me to have lunch with you?"

"And Sirius, more likely than not, but yes." Just then the boy mentioned caught up to the duo.

"You called?" Sirius said taking a deep breath to regulate his panting.

Lily huffed again, "Why in the world do you think I would want to associate myself with you?"

James grinned, "Because I'm charming, handsome and more interesting than anyone else?" he turned to his friend, "Why are you here and not guarding our….. project?"

"It's safe," Sirius said glancing back at where they came from, "besides I thought we could go ask Professor McGonagall about Remus."

"You two aren't planning something mischievous, are you? and what's wrong with Remus?" Lily asked, readjusting her bag on her shoulder.

"Remus is fine," Sirius waved nonchalantly, "He just went home to check on his sick rabbit. And as for our project, it's none of your business."

Lily stopped and glared at the two boys, "I've got my eyes on you. after your little stunt in charms class, I've learned that you two cannot be trusted." She then picked up her pace to get away from the duo, "Why Remus is friends with you, I'll never know."

James stopped in his tracks as he watched her walk away. He had a goofy smile on his face that showed his feelings quite plainly.

Sirius smiled and shook his head, "Come on, Loverboy, we've got a squid to put in place."

Later that morning James and Sirius walked into transfiguration to find a half-asleep Remus Lupin sitting in the front row.

"Remus!" the boys shouted as they ran to see him.

The boy yawned and smiled at his friends in reply. As the two got closer, they noticed a white bandage on the smaller boy's cheek.

Sirius frowned, "What happened?" he sat down next to his friend to get a closer look at the injury.

Remus instinctively put his hand over the bandage to cover it, "It's nothing," he said looking down at the desk.

James shoved Remus's hand away, "There is a bandage covering half your face and you say it's nothing?"

Sirius found something familiar in the situation that did not sit well with him. He knew all too well about injuries he would rather not explain. "Didn't you say you went home last night?" Remus shrugged, "Did someone do this to you?"

Remus's eyes widened, "No! it's not like that, it's just…. My-my rabbit. Yeah, that's it, I have a rabid rabbit. That's why he was sick and why I had to go home, remember?" James and Sirius gave each other an unsure look. "It's not as bad as it seems, madame Pomphrey said it might not even scar," Remus said with a small smile.

Sirius wasn't sure if he wanted to trust Remus. He knew what it was like to have to come up with stories to explain scarring. The people at Madame Malkin's robe shop always prodded a little too much when they fitted Sirius for robes. Sirius had made up countless accounts of broom riding accidents and fights with his brother that went a little too far.

Sirius sighed, "Well if you ever need us to teach this rabbit a lesson, don't fret to ask." Remus chuckled and then groaned.

After class, the three boys made their way to the great hall for lunch. They walked in and sat down in the middle of the table where everyone could see them.

"It's all set up then?" Remus asked yawning into his pumpkin juice.

"Yeah," James said, tilting his head, "are you sure you're alright?"

Remus rolled his eyes, "For the umpteenth time, yes. I just stayed up all night taking care of a sick rabbit." Remus picked at the food on his plate, not feeling hungry after the last night's events. "Did I miss anything else while I was gone?"

Sirius rummaged through his bag, "Well," he said pulling out his new camera, "I got this in the mail from my cousin.

Remus looked at the object in Sirius's hands in wonder, "Woah, is that a canon F-tb?"

Sirius shrugged, "Haven't the slightest idea, but I do know that it's a muggle."

"Why would your cousin just up and buy you a camera? Especially on this new?"

"Because it's my birthday," Sirius said absentmindedly. He grabbed a sandwich off the middle of the table and began picking it apart, plopping a piece in his mouth.

Remus's eyebrows went up, "What? And you didn't think to start with that fact?"

James sighed, "I know, for some reason he isn't particularly fond of his birthday. He claims that it's because he's never really celebrated it before."

Sirius's eyes darkened and he looked down at the table, remembering some of his past birthdays. Memories of his mother slapping him for speaking out of term at the breakfast table. Narcissa laughing at him for being foolish and thinking he might get a present. His father hitting him with a cane when he stepped in front of his younger brother to save him from punishment. Falling to sleep after hours of crying because he wanted a piece of the cake Kreacher had made for their house guest, but instead, he was sent upstairs without having eaten that day.

Sirius jumped when he felt a hand touch his shoulder, he looked over to see James looking at him with concern in his eyes. Sirius forced a smile on his face and took a deep breath before forcing himself to take another bite of sandwich.

"Well, at least now we know so that we can have a big celebration next year," Remus said giving Sirius a reassuring smile.

Sirius shook his head, "Well boys, I think it's about time people start to notice our little project, why don't we head to the battlements?"

The trio got up from the table and walked inconspicuously towards their destination. When they got there, they began snickering at the sight that ensued. All the heads of houses and the Headmaster were conversing about the fact a 20ft Squid was sitting in the middle of the courtyard. Several students had begun to gather around it, all talking animatedly about the squid. Sirius and James were trying and failing, to hide their amusement at the confused professor's faces.

Professor McGonagall walked over to the trio, "You three wouldn't happen to know what is going on here, would you?"

James stood up straight, "You aren't implying that we had had anything to do with this, are you? because ask anyone, we were in the great hall all of lunch."

"And it's impossible to have had this set up beforehand?"

"We were in your classroom beforehand, and this certainly wasn't here this morning,"

"Right, of course, forgive me for intruding in your amusement." The professor said before giving the boys one more look of disapproval and leaving. The three all let out a breath they didn't realize they were holding and toppled over laughing.

"Oh, Merlin," Sirius said wiping a tear from his eye, "This is pretty memorable."

"Good birthday so far?" Remus asked.

Sirius threw an arm around each of his friends' shoulders, "I would say it's been the best so far,"

James dug out the camera from inside Sirius's bag, "Say giant squid for the camera."

* * *

A/N: sorry for the hell of a wait. I have no new excuse and no new promise but thank you for bearing with me and reading my story. I'm also sorry for jumping in time and sort of forcing the story along. I started out writing this super detailed and realized I don't have enough info for a day to day account of what happens, so from now on there will be time jumps but I'll try and stick to important dates.


End file.
